Historically, there have been two theories regarding how animals develop. The older theory is referred to as preformation. This theory has been disproved, and it has been shown that animals develop through whatís known as epigenesis. Even so, since itís of historical interest, letís consider the notion of preformation.

"Vegetal," is related to "vegetable." Many plants can reproduce asexually, whereas virtually all animals reproduce sexually.

Probably for this reason, "vegetal" came to refer to processes in living things that are "plant-like," especially processes that do not occur through sexual reproduction. More to the point, perhaps, plants generally grow much more slowly than do animals. So the "vegetal" pole of an egg gets its name for the fact that the cells in this region grow and divide much more slowly than do the cells in the "animal" pole.